It's been one of those weeks...

This is what our week looked like:

Marc came home from Udmurtia to find our van completely dead on Monday.

When he got to the apartment, he said, "I think I might have broken my toe," and then to our utter and complete horror, pulled off his boot to reveal that his pinky toe was at least three times its normal size and completely black and purple. He has been trapped in the apartment since then. (Last trip a dog bite...this trip a broken toe...anyone see a pattern developing here?)

On Friday, Hannah woke up with a high fever, cough and headache. She missed her class sledding party and is still sick today.

This morning, Sarah Beth woke up early to go take the ACT. She didn't feel well, and we discovered that she, too, was running a fever and developing a cough.

We had to cancel plans to have company tonight, because of the illnesses of the girls.

As you can tell, not the best week. So, we are looking forward to starting a new week tomorrow!! Marc and Tim cancelled their planned trip to Bryansk this weekend so that Marc could rest his foot in the hopes that it will be better in time to go to Murmansk on Friday. If you look on a map, you'll see that Murmansk is in the Arctic Circle, so please pray for their safe travel and successful trip when they are there. (Today the temperature was -34 F and -43 windchill, with four hours of daylight.) The great news is that the kids and I have Friday and Monday off school for Winter Break, so we are really excited about that. And we had a great English Club meeting on Thursday night, with a new student. She works for the president of the Economic University here in Moscow, and talked to me about maybe coming to speak at the university. Please pray that this opportunity works out for me--what a great chance to develop new relationships here in Moscow. We pray that your week is full of relaxation, rest, and no broken appendages! Thank you for continuing to pray for us. We love and appreciate you!

Blessings,

Kellye (for all)

A big week!

Good morning! We pray this finds you getting ready for corporate worship in God's house. We are heading to an Engage Russia team prayer meeting, which should be fun. This week, our main prayer request centers around Friday. For 24 hours, we will be isolating ourselves in order to talk and pray through the decision we must make about our future. Would you commit to pray with us on Friday? Please pray that we will have wisdom, clarity and boldness as we make this important decision, and that God would be glorified through our lives. Due to Marc's heavy travel schedule, this will be the last chance we have to be alone before the end of the month. We are grateful for people with whom our children are staying, as you can imagine! Thank you, as always, for praying for us and with us. We could not do this without you! Blessings to you and yours! Kellye (for all)

Happy New Year

	Wow! Can you imagine that it's already 2009? As we enter our second year on the field, let me remind you of how thankful we are for faithful prayer partners. We could not remain on the field without you. We pray that 2009 will be a year of blessing and growth for each of you. My Dad and nephew went home on Tuesday, and we all managed to survive. It was sad for us to see them go, because we enjoyed so much having them here, but we are so grateful for the time they spent with us. What a blessing! We spent New Year's Eve with friends, first at a party, then at Red Square, as you can see in the pics above. (Actually, Red Square was already full by the time we got there, so this is right next to Red Square.) If you haven't seen the video of this experience, you must go to Marc's blog (www.marcirahooks.blogspot.com) and take a look. It is hysterically funny. Marc has promised this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I'm holding him to it! We have another week off of school this week, so we are taking our time cleaning and packing the Christmas stuff. John John has a sports camp Monday and Tuesday, and we have English Club on Thursday night. We are very much looking forward to seeing our friends. We miss them when we take a break. Please pray for our Russian friends, particularly Ksenya, Marina, and Sergei. We believe each of them is seeking something more in their lives. Pray that we will continue to grow our relationships with them. On Tuesday, Marc and Tim will set their travel schedule for January and February. We know already that it is packed completely full. Please pray for wisdom as they make decisions about where to travel in these very, very cold months of the year here in Russia. They are also praying to have twelve churches adopt the Chuvash people group and hold a campaign on behalf of the Chuvash for one month of the year. Will you please pray that churches will be faithful to heed this call, and that the Chuvash people will be reached with the Good News that Jesus saves? The response to Engage Russia, the campaign Marc and Tim are working on right now, has been overwhelming. We are really excited about what God is doing through their work. Please pray also for our family and the Wickers as Marc and Tim will be gone much of the next two months.  Finally, we are contemplating the different offers on the table for us from various parts of the company. We've been asked to make a decision by the end of January. Please pray that (a) God's direction would be absolutely clear; (b) we would take that direction unquestioningly; and (c) no matter what decision we make, we will continue to be focused on what God would have us do right now in this place. We are excited about the possibilities God has put before us, and we look forward to whatever direction He tells us to turn. It's an exciting time in our lives! Thank you for your prayers. Your faithfulness makes our lives possible. We appreciate and love you, and we pray that you are looking forward to a tremendous day in the house of God. Blessings to you and yours! His, Kellye (for all)